Now we are going to dive deep into brain health. We will review my pillars of brain health along with supplements, biohacks, and more.

The first step to achieving better brain health is to care about your brain. Our brains are the most important organ we have, as well as our most expensive. We often focus on areas of health that we can see, like our weight and physical appearance, but a better brain will make achieving our goals much easier because we will have an improved mindset, clearer thinking, and a better mood.

It is important to understand that neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia begin developing 20 to 30 years prior to ever presenting a symptom, so it is crucial to focus on the brain now , not only for better cognition and focus in the present but to preserve your brain health in the future.

Our brain is the organ of intelligence, character, and personality, and it is responsible for every single decision we make. Better brains lead to more success in our relationships, career, and overall life, so I am glad that you are taking your brain health seriously by reading this book. As you can see, privileging brain health is the key to enjoying all expressions of health—physical and emotional as well as cognitive.

BRAIN CHEMISTRY

Before we dive into the pillars of brain health, let’s talk about brain chemistry. Your nervous system—your brain and spinal cord— or nervous system controls all the functions of your body. Your nervous system is made up of nerve cells or neurons or nerve cells.

eurons communicate with each other by releasing chemicals. We have two groups of these chemicals: neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Neurotransmitters release chemical messages to one or two neurons, whereas neuromodulators are a subset of neurotransmitters and release chemical messages to a group of neurons. Neuromodulators can also control the amount of neurotransmitters synthesized and released by neurons. Neurotransmitters, because they are communicating to one or two neurons, results in a fast-acting response because they are communicating to one or two neurons, and neuromodulators, because they are communicating to a group of neurons, have a slower effect because they are communicating to a group of neurons, but they are often more long-lasting.

Neurons are not directly connected, so they communicate through a small gap between neurons called the synaptic cleft. Essentially, the chemical signal (neurotransmitter) is forced through the synaptic cleft, to the next neuron. The neuron sending the signal is called the presynaptic cell, and the neuron receiving the signal is called the postsynaptic cell. These neurotransmitters and neuromodulators have everything to do with your current mood or state of mind. We call chains or groups of neurotransmitters, neural circuits. There are over 50 known types of neurotransmitters, but we will hone in on the most notable neurotransmitter/s and neuromodulators. For the sake of simplicity, and since both neurotransmitters and neuromodulators send chemical messages in the brain, and work together, we will refer to both as neurotransmitters, since this is the more commonly known term.

A neurotransmitter can influence neurons in one of three ways. It can excite, inhibit, or modulate them.

Excitatory neurotransmitters have a stimulating effect on neurons. Examples of excitatory neurotransmitters are epinephrine and norepinephrine.

Inhibitory neurotransmitters – Hhave the opposite effect and inhibit neurons. Examples are GABA and endorphins.

Modulatory neurotransmitters (or as reviewed above, can be referred to as Neuromodulatorsneuromodulators, mentioned above, ) which can affect a large number of neurons at a time. Neuromodulators do not directly activate neuronal receptors but work with neurotransmitters to enhance their effects essentially. Examples are dopamine and serotonin.

major Neurotransmittersneurotransmitters.:

Adrenaline (a.k.a. epinephrine): – Fight or flight. Adrenaline is produced in response to stress. Adrenaline increases blood pressure and heart rate to prepare the body to take action. Adrenaline offers a physical boost and increased awareness.

Acetylcholine –: Is involved in memory, and learning. It also activates muscle action in the body and is associated with attention and focus. Acetylcholine is also important in brain plasticity.

Dopamine –: Impacts motivation and drive. Dopamine is also involved in movement.

Endorphins –: Produce feelings of well-being,  and dulls pain. Endorphins are released during exercise, excitement, sex, and some hermetic stressors such as cold therapy.

GABA: – Calms firing nerves in the central nervous system. High levels improve focus;, low levels can cause anxiety. Also impacts motor controls and vision.

Glutamate –: Involved in learning and memory. This is also the most abundant neurotransmitter.

Noradrenaline (a.k.a. norepinephrine) –: Impacts attention and physical reactions to attention such as blood flow.

Serotonin –: Known as the happiness chemical because it contributes to well-being and contentedness. Also impacts sleep and our digestion.

Now, why do neurotransmitters matter? Well, as I started at the beginning of this section with, neurotransmitters impact our mood, focus, overall wellbeing, and more— and we can impact our neurotransmitters.

Another important point to mention is that our hormones also impact our neurotransmitters—hormones like testosterone, estrogen, cortisol, and oxytocin also impact our neurotransmitters. For example, in general, when your cortisol is increased your epinephrine (adrenaline) is affected. Testosterone and dopamine are closely connected. Essentially, our hormones modulate, our neuromodulators.

THE PILLARS OF BRAIN HEALTH

Sleep

Sleep is the restorative phase of our day. The brain generates two distinct types of sleep—slow-wave sleep (SWS), known as deep sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, also called dreaming sleep. Most of the sleeping we do is of the SWS variety, characterized by large, slow brain waves; relaxed muscles; and slow, deep breathing, which may help the brain and body to recuperate after a long day.

Movement

Movement is a key pillar to optimal brain health. These days, most of us are living sedentary lives, which is a major contributor to our current health crisis. Because we do not have many physical challenges, our physical health is deteriorating. I break movement into three subsets: we have low-level movement like walking, intense training to build muscle or endurance, and mobility to keep us flexible and to reduce the risk of injury.

Nutrition

Food is more than just calories; it is information for your cells. Our brains are an incredible energy-consumption organ—: although they are only around two pounds, they consume 20 to 30 percent of our calories in the form of energy. This is why you have to be incredibly mindful about how and what you eat.